accountability journalism

WVON commentary

I recorded a commentary for WVON this week. It airs three times today, and maybe over the weekend, too.

Here’s the text, if you want to read instead:

This is Brandon Smith. I’m that journalist that sued the city to make ‘em release video of Laquan McDonald being shot, working with your brother Will Calloway. I’m here with something that’s half PSA, half open letter to the DOJ. See, the Department of justice has a dozen investigators in Chicago now, plus their support staff. They say it’s the biggest civil rights probe they’ve ever done on a police department. Now, let’s get this out of the way: as a journalist, I deal in facts. But as a human, I have to advocate against oppression when I see it. And there are still a bunch of cowboys in the Chicago Police Department—not all, but many—who still think people in some neighborhoods are, quote, “bad guys” and people in other ones are generally good. Ta-Nehisi Coates said this, he said: “racism is not merely a simplistic hatred. Is is, more often, broad sympathy toward some and broader skepticism toward others.” But I probably don’t need to tell you that; I’m hoping you share this piece with your friends who don’t understand. Lotta people out there still think the city did what it was supposed to do with that video of Laquan. What I say to that is, the DOJ being here means there’s a lot that’s not right. I think the mayor and the new superintendent are hiding behind this notion that there are *all these different ideas* about how to make sure police don’t kill people when they shouldn’t. There’s a lot to fix, but don’t believe for a second that it’s too complicated. After speaking with hundreds of people since the Laquan video came out—including a lot of black activists that talk to a lot more people—I’ve made a list of some of the most pressing problems. These are what the D-O-J needs to investigate, and include in their eventual set of rules for what police can’t do anymore.

– civil forfeiture
– shooting people in the back as they run away
– not booking people immediately when they arrest them, like they do at Homan Square
– roughing people up and other, quote, “harsh interrogation.”
– trading guns for freedom—particularly guns you have to buy or spend a lot of time getting
– police having to sign their name to every time they call out an awful co-worker
– police not being charged with perjury when they probably should be
– requiring sworn affidavits from citizens who file complaints against officers
– cops destroying dashboard camera audio devices

Now, I’ll publicize the DOJ’s responses if I get them. And if you want to spread word about this piece, I’ve tweeted it out. Twitter.com/muckrakery. It’ll throw you over to the site of the people at WVON. Until next time: Peace.